25 - Reading the ‘Black’ in the ‘Union Jack’

Summary

This chapter explores the emergence of black and Asian British writing as it began to become institutionalised: in school curricula, universities and higher education, as well as on the lists of educational and mainstream publishing houses. Examining the material conditions impacting on the recognition of this writing across Britain’s arts and educational cultures, it focuses on the second half of the twentieth century, especially the turbulent political period from the late 1970s onwards, to the present day. Though evidence of this history remains uneven, it is important to view the institutionalisation alongside specific political, cultural, and material contexts, in particular the policies of anti-racism, multiculturalism, and cultural diversity as well as government-driven enquiries like the crucial investigation into structural racial inequalities following the Stephen Lawrence murder in the 1999 Macpherson Report. Examining the political and educational initiatives behind arts funding, the chapter highlights how the growing interest in postcolonial studies since the 1990s has also created a wider market for black and Asian British writing, both for publishers and on university courses.